U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,866, which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application, discloses a transport refrigeration system in which a Diesel engine which drives a refrigerant compressor may be selectively operated in either a continuous or a start-stop mode. In the start-stop mode, the Diesel engine is under the control of a refrigeration thermostat, being stopped and re-started as the temperature of a controlled space enters and leaves predefined temperature bands relative to a selected temperature set point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,465, which is also assigned to the same assignee as the present application, discloses improved electrical control for automatically starting a Diesel engine, which simplified the control and improved the logic of the '866 patent. A thermistor in the engine coolant controls the engine pre-heat time. A battery monitor control module determines if the battery charge condition is at a level sufficient to permit the engine to stop. An electronic temperature control module or thermostat controls the temperature of the served space, similar to the '465 patent.
Application Ser. No. 07/728,665, filed Jul. 11, 1991, entitled "A Method Of Operating A Transport Refrigeration Unit", which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application, discloses a method of operating a transport refrigeration unit in which functions of separate control modules of the aforesaid U.S. Patents are integrated and consolidated into one controlling function, such as provided by a computer, and more specifically a microprocessor, while further enhancing and improving the control of a transport refrigeration unit.